From the Randolph Township Historical Society’s family and local history archive.
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A History of the Warner Settlement
Ref: “Randolph Township” by E. F. Warner in the History of Montgomery County, Ohio, W. H.
Beers, 1882.
Heinrich (Henry) Warner was born in Wittenberg, Germany in the mid-seventeen
hundreds and came to America to seek his fortune. He originally settled in Frederick County,
Maryland and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War. After the war he moved to Bedford
County, Pennsylvania where he married Susannah (Nichodemus) and started a family.
In 1811, Henry decided to emigrate with his large family to the rich farmlands of
Montgomery County, Ohio. He led his wife and his nine adult children and their families down
the Ohio River in flat-bottom boats from Pittsburg to Cincinnati. His children were Jacob, John,
Henry, Andrew, David, Daniel, Elizabeth (Snyder), Susan(nah) (Folkerth) and Catherine (Mast).
The elder Henry purchased (from Robert Ewing and William Carrick) a ¾ section of farmland in
Randolph Township, Section 9, Town 5, Range 5, East, located near Union, Ohio. Each of the
Warner families selected a farm site on the 480 acres in said township and began agricultural
pursuits.
This large settlement was known far and near as “the Warner Settlement.” Through the
years, the family members bought additional lands in adjoining townships, counties, and states.
By 1890, only two Warner family members continued to live in this area of Ohio, namely Enos
Warner and E. F. Warner (Salem). It was E. F. Warner who wrote the Randolph Township
chapter in Beers’ history book. He was the son of John H. Warner and the grandson of Jacob
Warner.
The old Warner Cemetery still exists and is located on the north side of Sweet Potato
Ridge Road between St. Rt. 48/Main Street and Old Mill Road alongside the Union Ridge
housing development. In later years this cemetery was referred to as the Herr Cemetery since
Samuel M. Herr, his wife Mary (Bowman) and son are also buried there along with many of the
early Warner family members. The “new” Warner Cemetery is located about 1.5 miles west of
the old farm cemetery on Sweet Potato Ridge Road and is still active.